318 / 448
OCTOBER 1996
Commercial Law Not iceboard
From the Company and Commercial Law Committee
Trade marks
T h e T r a d e M a r k s Ac t, 1 9 96 c a m e into
f o r c e o n 1 J u ly 1996. A m o n g o t h er
s i g n i f i c a nt c h a n g es to t r a de m a r k l aw,
t he 1 9 96 A c t r e m o v e d t he o ld
d i s t i n c t i on b e t w e en P a rt A a nd P a rt B of
t he t r a de m a r k s r e g i s t er a nd n o w
p e r m i ts the r e g i s t r a t i on of s e r v i ce
m a r k s.
It a l so p e r m i ts the r e g i s t r a t i on of a ny
s i gn c a p a b le of g r a p h ic r e p r o d u c t i on ( so
that s o u n ds a n d e v e n s m e l ls m a y n o w
b e r e g i s t r a b l e ). T h e e x c l u s i ve r i g h ts of
o w n e r s of r e g i s t e r ed t r a de m a r k s h a v e
b e e n e x t e n d ed a n d s t r e n g t h e n e d, a n d t he
r u l es r e l a t i ng to the a s s i g n m e nt a n d
l i c e n s i ng of t r a de m a r k s h a v e b e en
s i mp l i f i e d.
A t p r e s e nt t h e re are 7 , 0 0 0 p e n d i ng
a p p l i c a t i o ns f o r s e r v i ce m a r k s. F o r this
r e a s on it is u n l i k e ly that a ny s u ch
a p p l i c a t i on s u b m i t t ed n o w will lead to a
r e g i s t r a t i on b e f o re A u t u mn 1998.
Seminars on IP law
T h e n e w T r a d e M a r k s A c t, 1 9 96 a l o ng
w i th o t h er intellectual p r o p e r ty l aw is to
b e the s u b j e ct of a series of s e m i n a rs
late this y e ar or e a r ly in 1997. T h e y
will b e s i m i l ar in s t r u c t u re to t he
s u c c e s s f ul series of c o m p a n y l aw
l e c t u r es o r g a n i s ed this S p r i ng by
C L E in c o n j u n c t i on w i th t he c o mm i t t e e.
W a t c h the
Noticeboard
f or f u r t h er
details.
Companies Office fees
Y o u r c o mm i t t ee m a i n t a i ns an o n g o i ng
d i a l o g ue w i th the C o m p a n i es
R e g i s t r a t i on O f f i ce a n d h as a
r e p r e s e n t a t i ve on t he C R O
L i n k
c o mm i t t ee (that is, the u s e r s'
r e p r e s e n t a t i on c o mm i t t ee e s t a b l i s h ed
b y t he C R O ) . W e are p l e a s ed to
r e p o rt a r e d u c t i on in i n c o r p o r a t i on f e es
of £ 2 0 on c o m p a n y f o r m a t i o n. T h e
c o mm i t t ee c o n t i n u es its e f f o r ts to
p r o c u re an i m p r o v e m e nt in
C R O s e r v i c e s.
Competition law - new
crimes created
S o m e t w o y e a rs a f t er its p u b l i c a t i o n,
a nd w i th the a d d i t i on at o n e s t a ge of
a m e n d m e n ts w h i ch w e r e m o r e
v o l u m i n o us t h an t he Bill w h e n initiated,
t he 1 9 94 C o m p e t i t i on Bill h a s n o w b e en
e n a c t ed as t he C o m p e t i t i on
( A m e n d m e n t) A c t, 1996. R e s t r i c t i ng
c o m p e t i t i on a n d a b u s i ng a d o m i n a nt
p o s i t i on a re n o w c r i m i n al o f f e n c e s,
p u n i s h a b le by i m p r i s o n m e nt a n d fines.
Competition law - Inquorate
Competition Authority
J u st as the C o m p e t i t i on ( A m e n d m e n t)
Ac t, 1996 b e c a me law, a m e m b e r of t he
C o m p e t i t i on A u t h o r i ty retired f r o m
o f f i c e. T h e C o m p e t i t i on A u t h o r i ty is
t h e r e f o re u n a b le to m a k e a ny d e c i s i o ns
p e n d i ng the a p p o i n t m e nt of a
r e p l a c e m e n t. L i k e w i s e, the p o st of
D i r e c t or of C o m p e t i t i on E n f o r c e m e nt
c r e a t ed by t he n e w A ct is v a c a n t.
Irish Stock Exchange: new rules
A n e w set of t he " G r e en P a g e s ",
officially known as
Notes on the Listing
Rules,
h a ve b e en p u b l i s h ed by t he Irish
S t o ck E x c h a n g e. T h e s e p a g e s, w h i ch
a m e n d the L o n d o n " Y e l l ow B o o k ", are
a v a i l a b le f r o m the H e a d of L i s t i ng a nd
F i n a n c e, Irish S t o ck E x c h a n g e, 2 8
A n g l e s ea Street, D u b l in 2, t e l e p h o ne 01
6 7 7 8 8 0 8.
Education - Professional and
Advanced Courses
T h e c o mm i t t ee is r e v i e w i ng t he c o n t e n ts
of the p r e s e nt syllabi in c o m p a n y a nd
c o mm e r c i al l aw a n d will b e p u t t i ng
f o r w a rd p r o p o s a ls to the L a w S o c i e t y 's
E d u c a t i on C o mm i t t ee in that r e g a r d.
•
Dublin District Court
J u d g e P e t er S m i t h w i ck h a s i n f o r m ed
t he S o c i e ty that the D u b l in a r ea District
C o u r t is i n t r o d u c i ng a n e w s y s t em of
c a s e listing in C o u r t s 9 a n d 10,
D o l p h i n H o u s e , f o r an e x p e r i m e n t al
p e r i o d .
O r d i n a r y c i v il p r o c e s s es f o r d a m a g e s
f o r t o rt a n d b r e a c h of c o n t r a ct w i ll b e
i s s u e d t h r o u g h t h e C i v il O f f i c e
r e t u r n a b le f o r C o u r t N o . 10 o n
M o n d a y m o r n i n g at 1 0 . 30 a m . T h e
C i v i l O f f i c e w i ll g i v e t h e a p p r o p r i a te
r e t u r n d a t e.
T h e p r o c e d u r e f o r s u m m a r y
p r o c e e d i n gs f o r a d e b t o r l i q u i d a t ed
m o n e y d e m a n d r e m a i n a s b e f o r e ; t h at
is, t h e y w i ll b e i s s u ed f o r C o u r t 9,
D o l p h i n H o u s e at 1 0 . 30 a m .
T h i s p r o c e d u re w i ll s t a rt o n 14
O c t o b e r 1 9 9 6.
W o u l d m e m b e r s p l e a s e n o t i f y t h e
L i t i g a t i on C o m m i t t e e of t h e ir v i e w o n
h o w t h e s y s t e m w o r k s a n d w h e t h e r o r
n o t it is an i m p r o v e m e n t?
Litigation
Committee
a
Compet i t ion law
under review
A n e w b o d y h a s b e en set u p by
E n t e r p r i se a nd E m p l o y m e nt M i n i s t er
R i c h a rd B r u t on to r e v i ew the l aw o n
c o m p e t i t i on a n d m e r g e r s. T h e
C o m p e t i t i on a n d M e r g e rs R e v i ew
G r o u p i n c l u d es r e p r e s e n t a t i v es f r o m t he
L a w S o c i e t y, t he B a r C o u n c i l, t he
C o n s u m e r s' A s s o c i a t i o n, e m p l o y e r s'
g r o u ps a n d t he t r a de u n i o n s. A m o n g
o t h er t h i n g s, it will r e v i ew the 1991 a nd
1996
Competition Acts
and the
Restrictive Practices (Groceries) Order,
1987,
T h e s o c i e t y 's r e p r e s e n t a t i ve is
G e r a ld F i t z g e r a l d, a nd t he n e w b o d y
will b e c h a i r ed b y M i c h a el C o l l i ns S C .
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